VeChainThor no longer runs under the consensus system described in most older VeChain explainers. The Hayabusa mainnet upgrade in December 2025 replaced its identity-vetted Proof of Authority model with Delegated Proof of Stake. It also ended the rule under which simply holding VET generated VTHO.
Those changes alter the roles of both tokens and the network’s trust model. This guide describes the system checked on September 3, 2026, not the historical version launched in 2018.
VeChain and VeChainThor
VeChain is the ecosystem and foundation associated with VeChainThor, a public, smart-contract Layer 1. The chain uses account-style addresses and an execution environment designed to be familiar to Ethereum developers, but its transaction format and network rules are not identical to Ethereum’s.
A blockchain record can show that an address submitted data at a certain time. It cannot establish that the original physical-world data was true. Supply-chain, product-passport and sustainability applications still depend on sensors, authorised issuers, database integrations and procedures for correcting errors. The ledger protects the record after submission; it does not authenticate every input by itself.
VET and VTHO have separate protocol jobs
VET is the staking and governance asset used in VeChainThor’s current DPoS design. Validators commit VET and operate block-producing infrastructure. Other eligible participants can stake and delegate through the StarGate system rather than run a validator themselves.
VTHO pays for transfers and smart-contract execution. The chain’s dynamic-fee model divides the price into a base fee and a possible priority fee. According to the current VeChain VTHO documentation, the base fee is burned and the priority fee goes to the validator that proposed the block.
Hayabusa also changed issuance. VTHO is now generated in relation to VET actively staked in the network and distributed through validator and delegator rewards. An unstaked balance no longer earns VTHO merely by remaining in a wallet. Reward amounts are variable and should not be treated as interest or guaranteed income.
How delegated proof of stake works here
Under DPoS, stake is delegated to validators that produce blocks and maintain the network. VeChain’s current regulatory disclosure states that a validator must maintain at least 25 million VET. Delegators support a chosen validator without taking on the same server role. The official VET MiCA white paper identifies VIP-253 as the consensus change introduced with Hayabusa.
Delegation does not eliminate trust decisions. A validator’s uptime affects participation and rewards; protocol and governance rules determine selection, penalties and distribution. A delegator also retains token-price, custody, smart-contract and exit-timing exposure. The StarGate reward documentation notes that delegation and exits take effect at validator-period boundaries rather than instantly.
VeChain’s 2026 roadmap records the December 2025 move from KYC-based PoA to permissionless DPoS. Some older pages in the documentation still describe the former 101 Authority Masternodes. When evaluating a current integration, the Hayabusa-era specifications and current client release are the relevant sources.
A transaction can contain several clauses
VeChainThor allows one signed transaction to contain an ordered array of clauses. Each clause can identify a recipient, value and data payload. The transaction model also includes a block reference, expiration, gas limit, maximum fee, priority fee and optional dependency.
Multiple clauses can bundle related actions and are processed in their declared order. The protocol treats their execution atomically: if one fails, the group does not partially complete. This can simplify an application workflow, although it does not make the contracts being called safe. A flawed approval or malicious destination remains a flawed action inside a well-formed transaction.
Fee delegation changes who pays gas
An application can sponsor VTHO instead of requiring every user to acquire gas before interacting. VeChainThor supports Multi-Party Payment at the contract level and the VIP-191 designated-gas-payer mechanism at transaction level. The official fee-delegation comparison explains that both move the cost to a sponsor but use different coordination flows.
Sponsorship can improve onboarding; it does not make execution free. Someone pays the fee, and the sponsor may impose eligibility, rate limits or service availability. Applications must also protect the sponsorship service from abuse and define what happens when it is offline.
What to verify before using VET or a VeChain application
- Use the VeChainThor network and a compatible wallet; an Ethereum-style address does not make the transaction Ethereum-compatible.
- Distinguish VET, the staking asset, from VTHO, the transaction-fee asset.
- Confirm whether the user or an application sponsor will pay VTHO.
- Inspect every clause, token approval and contract address before signing.
- For staking, check validator status, delegation timing, custody and current protocol terms.
- For a business claim, verify the organisation supplying offchain data and the legal meaning of the resulting record.
VeChainThor’s distinguishing features are concrete: a dual-token fee system, multi-clause transactions, native fee sponsorship and a DPoS validator/delegator model. None establishes adoption, data quality or investment value on its own; those claims need evidence outside the protocol design.
Editorial note: Rewritten in full on September 3, 2026 following the Hayabusa consensus and tokenomics changes. The former investment section, passive-income promise and obsolete Proof of Authority governance description were removed. This is educational material, not investment advice.
